Hebrew word · H5829

עֵ֫זֶר

'ezer

Ezer

As a common noun ʿēzer means 'help, helper, support'. The same word describes God as Israel's help and, in Genesis 2:18, the woman as a fitting helper. It does not imply a lesser rank. As a personal name it is probably a shortened form of a name like Azariah or Eliezer ('God is help').

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at 1Ch.4.4;

son of: Hur (H2354);

brother of: Uri (H0221), Shobal (H7732H), Salma (H8007H), Hareph (H2780), Jezreel (H3157J), Ishma (H3457), Idbash (H3031), Hazzelelponi (H6753) and Penuel (H6439H);

father of: Hushah (H2364)

§ Ezer = "treasure"

1) father of Hushah of the sons of Hur

2) a Gadite chief who fought with David

3) a Levite who aided in repairing the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 12:9

Range of meaning

As a common noun ʿēzer means 'help, helper, support'. The same word describes God as Israel's help and, in Genesis 2:18, the woman as a fitting helper. It does not imply a lesser rank. As a personal name it is probably a shortened form of a name like Azariah or Eliezer ('God is help').

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate the name, which is correct. Readers lose the meaning that a Hebrew listener would have heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Several men in Chronicles and Nehemiah are named Ezer (e.g. 1 Chr 4:4; 7:21; Neh 3:19; 12:42). The root ʿzr ('to help') runs all through 1 Chronicles 12: men came 'to help' David (vv. 1, 17, 19, 21, 22), and Amasai's oracle says 'peace to your helpers, for your God helps you' (v. 18).

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 4:4 וְעֵ֖זֶר and Ezer

    Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem.

    Here: A personal name meaning 'help'. This Judahite is a different man from the other Ezers in Chronicles.

  2. 1 Chronicles 7:21 וְעֵ֣זֶר and Ezer

    Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son. Ezer and Elead were killed by the natives of Gath, because they went down to steal their livestock.

  3. 1 Chronicles 12:9 עֵ֖זֶר Ezer

    Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

    Here: The first-named Gadite commander. The name is the ordinary Hebrew noun for 'help', probably short for a longer name like 'God is help'. In a chapter that keeps repeating that men came 'to help David', the name fits the theme, though it was also a common name.

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 3:19 עֵ֧זֶר Ezer

    And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory, near the angle in the wall.

  2. Nehemiah 12:42 וָעָ֑זֶר and Ezer

    and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.